to wish that Marilyn Monroe's figure was still the type of figure our girls aspire to

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watching Prince and Showgirl on tv now - she's all bouncy and rounded with a definite belly - the height of beauty, the sexiest woman

womanly curves and not stick-thin model catwalk and photoshopped rubbish - that's what we should see around

look a ther - she wobbles

I get where you're coming from, but I'd rather a world where girls weren't aspiring to any body type. Just aspiring to greatness.

good point!

I have my moments

I agree - YABU because not every girl has that kind of figure in her genetic make up.

She still had rhinoplasty, became addicted to pills and made a career out of a sexy 'dumb blonde' persona.

As long as she wasn't a size 8 though....

You may find this interesting...

www.snopes.com/movies/actors/mmdress.asp

So according to that she was no more than a size 10?

I KNEW IT!

I love old movies because the woman look gorgeous

I hate modern movies because the women look too thin

yes

YABU, being overweight does not have the monopoly on being sexy nor is it something to aspire to. neither is being underweight.

I am sick of all this "real woman" "curves are sexier" "something to hold onto" bollocks, the fact is, a healthy woman is a sexy woman. some women ARE stick thin, and they feel pressurised to surgery to enlarge their breasts, bottoms just as surely as women who are curvier feel pressured to starve themselves into oblivion.

Can't believe people are surprised that the size 16 thing is a myth - have you actually looked at pictures of her??

www.thecampofthesaints.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Marilyn-Monroe-BikiniFest2009-560a.jpg

Marilyn Monroe was a size 14, however that equates to a size 12 in this day and age as sizes have changed and a 14 now is bigger than a 14 was then measurement wise.

what fabby said.

Everyone calls Marilyn 'curvy' but as Snopes says she was very slim with tits and arse. The myth comes from a larger size dress from Some Like It Hot that was auctioned - but she was pregnant at the time (she later miscarried).

Women looked curvier back in the 1950s largely because
a) no photoshop and fewer airbrushing techniques
b) they tended to be shorter and smaller boned than us sturdy post-war babies.
c) The male type back then was slim and slight compared with the buff bodies male stars have today.
d) cinematography pre-1960s (4:3 aspect ratio) much more flattering to figures than today's widescreen / anamorphic / hi-def.
e) dress sizing today is much bigger IYSWIM. My friend of a similar build (but today's size 12 - 14) bought a Vogue 1950s dress pattern. She had to use the size 18-20 and even then it was tight! Size 'zero' doesn't really exist - it's an old size 6.

If you look at the Bert Stern pics taken before her death she is very very slim.

I just love movies if the storylines are good.

this may interest those who have been watching the film......
His book is very good too!!

It would be nice yes. I think I've fallen into this, I feel fat if I can't see an outline of my ribs and go between a 6 and a small 8, it isn't healthy and I fear for my future DDs with a mother who views food like I do :(

It is within the realm of possibility that myself and many other women could could become very thin. It is entirely outside the realm of possibility that me or most other women could have a similar chest-waist-hip ratio to Marilyn Monroe.

Many young teenagers are naturally thin; a desire for thin women is about a desire for youth. We have to be more accepting of the ageing process and ask why men are enouraged to desire young teenagers and why women want to look like them.

The desire to look like Marilyn Monroe is about wanting an extremely female waist to hip ratio, so as to look as different as possible from men. Given that human evolution has made us less sexually dimorphic globally, I can't see why people would want to women to aspire to a body shape that is unachievable for most without quite extreme plastic surgery or corsetry.

chub, have you spoken to your gp? it sounds like you have a problem with body image/dysmorphia. we all have our limits and what is healthy for me may be very unhealthy for someone else. I am a very slim build naturally. I have delicate bones and am unable to bear much weight even if I wanted to. the absolute largest I can get to without being very unhealthy is a size 10. I have a friend who is only a couple of inches taller and her bone structure means that anything less than a size 12 makes her look emaciated.

I think we blame the media too readily for any rise in ED's (lets not forget that obesity is at an all time high, even while we are supposedly having size zero models pushed on us) and forget that eating disorders and body dysmorphia are mental conditions which are linked to depression and addictions.

No. what would be nice if women who are naturally larger, and healthy with it, could be appreciated for their beauty.

And the same for women who are naturally thin.

Why do we have to all aspire to one ideal?

The Marylin body is potentially just as much of a 'straitjacket' as the Kate Moss one.

Isn't a US size 8 a UK size 12? which makes her a 12 to 14 rather than a 8 to 10.

exactly starlady. being sexy and gorgeous and feminie and womanly isnt about having large breasts and a bum that wobbles, or about a flat stomach and long legs. its being healthy and comfortable in your own skin.

I think it's that this discussion is still going on 50 years after her death.

If anyone's life epitomises the revolting and horrifying consequences of objectifying women and fetishising their body parts and sexuality, then it's Marilyn Monroe.

The weight thing is a red herring and just another way to set women against each other.

I heart MM and always will. She's my screensaver too :)